


All That Matters Is Love

by StoriesBecomeSongs



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 23:34:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21346606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoriesBecomeSongs/pseuds/StoriesBecomeSongs
Summary: Chas reminisces on times gone by...
Relationships: Aaron Dingle & Chas Dingle, Aaron Dingle & Liv Flaherty & Robert Sugden, Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	All That Matters Is Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of stream of consciousness to help get me through the events of the last week...how things SHOULD have gone down.
> 
> This might be a one off, but I might do some other pieces to kind of fill in the blanks if this one goes well! Let me know if you'd be interested!

Christmas was always hard. And birthdays. Especially now baby Eve was getting older, and looking more like her big brother every day.

The clock in the back room of the pub always seemed to tick too loudly when there was nobody else home. Chas stood in the middle of the room, observing the couch with a blanket thrown haphazardly across the back, a leftover from the movie night she had shared with Debbie and Sarah the night before. Liv usually joined them but...well everything changed in the end.

She crossed the room to a framed photograph. Two handsome men stood with their arms round each other, beaming into the camera. The happiest day of their lives. The emotion between them was evident even from an image. It was a feeling which transcended love, and moved into adoration...devotion. She smiled softly to herself as she fingered the frame, before picking it up and taking a closer look. Almost unconsciously, she reached out to touch the face of one of the men; his bright blue eyes filled with joy as he stood with the love of his life, finally free to be who he wanted with no apologies, no fear, no regret. 

Soulmates.

It was a phrase bandied around casually these days; according to social media, people changed their soulmates on an almost weekly basis. The pub had had beer deliveries which lasted longer than some of these relationships, yet they were always cosied up on the internet, proclaiming that this one was different, was real.

The image she held in her hand, that was the definition of soulmates.

One soul, split into two bodies. In this case, two lost souls who had finally found their other halves. Two people who had seen the darkest, ugliest shadows of one another's beings. Who knew the good and the bad inside and out, and fell in love anyway. Two people who would go to the ends of the earth for one another and who, if torn apart, would never survive for long. Two men who had been rejected by their families, who had rejected themselves, and who had finally, eventually found true peace in one another's arms.

Only to have it all ripped away.

He was fearless, her boy. After everything he had been through, he loved with all his heart. Unconditionally. Not without question; there was no denying that he had seen every flaw in his lovers facade, experienced his issues first hand: and loved anyway. To the end.

To the death.

She sighed as she placed the picture back on the shelf, and smiled as she heard Paddy chatting away to their daughter. All was not lost. As long as there is love, there is life.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Same again?” Aaron looked up, squinting into the sunlight to make out the figure standing above him. He sighed and raised an eyebrow as he looked the man up and down.

“Nah, you’re alright mate.”

The other figure looked bemused, as though rejection was an unfamiliar taste.

“Come on, can’t let you sit and drink alone can I?”

Aaron looked up again, a smirk on his lips as he replied.

“Honestly, it’s not a good idea...I’m married. Happily. And he’s the possessive type.”

Disappointment crossed the handsome face in front of him as he tilted his head.

“Shame. What’s he like then, your bloke?”

Aaron carefully considered the question, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

“Oh he’s alright...tall...bit lanky...really bloody awkward. Awful jokes. Bloody terrible dancer too…”

He was cut off with the menu being firmly swatted across the back of his head as Robert finally sat back down opposite him.

“You’re a cheeky git do you know that? God knows why I put up with you.” 

“Er...cos your French is awful and you’d starve without me?”

Robert rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself. It made Aaron’s heart stop every single bloody time. After all these years. He’d walk across hot coals to see that smile. Fight a lion. Flee his home without a backwards glance. He shamelessly studied his husbands face, drinking in the features which were more familiar than his own. Fluffy blonde hair which caught the evening sun perfectly. Those gorgeous blue eyes which softened every time he looked at his husband. The endless freckles which seemed to have multiplied in the sun. Aaron knew that was just an illusion though; he had counted and kissed each and every freckle, and would know if a new one had emerged. A little older, a few more laughter lines, but undeniably gorgeous. Like the bottle of Bordeaux he had plonked on the table between them, Robert Sugden only got better with age.

“Er hello, are you going to order, or just make heart eyes at each other all day?”

The gobby voice of his joint-favourite person cut across his thoughts, and he turned to scowl at Liv, only managing a grimace before his gaze turned to affection. 

When they had run, he’d thought Liv would hate him. Blame him for leaving her behind. For choosing Robert. But she got it. She knew he couldn’t live a day without Robert, and she’d told him to go. And once they were free and clear, she had dedicated every second she had into finding other victims of Lee’s. With a little digging (and he strongly suspected a few bribes from the bank of Dingle), women had started coming forward; including a young girl who had been attacked a few weeks after Victoria’s ordeal. She had had the courage to head to the police, and the DNA sample taken from Lee’s brother had helped to back up her story. Liv had gone head to head with the legal system to have Robert’s charge overturned in his absence, and told everyone who would listen that he was innocent. Lee was a rapist; that much was becoming obvious. He had attacked Robert’s sister - a provocative action in anyone's mind. He and his family had interfered with the trial on numerous occasions. Robert was already traumatised and sensitive to crimes of this nature due to the ordeal suffered by his husband, and understandably lost control. With the local press on her side, Liv fought for Roberts freedom. The case gained national media attention, and the police were forced to admit that they had bungled the case. An appeal was granted. Liv, Chas, Cain, Charity, Debbie, Marlon, Sam, Zack, Belle, even Mandy...each and every Dingle stood up and swore that Lee’s family had interfered with the investigation, offering wild, dramatic recountings of various incidents. In the end, Lee’s own mother, her misguided fight for justice, caused the case to crumble. DS Wise resigned, and the hunt for Robert went very quiet. The case was technically still ongoing, but even if Robert sashayed back into the village tomorrow, he certainly wasn’t going down for murder.

And all because of Liv.

Not long after her eighteenth birthday, with a stunning set of A Level passes in hand, she had announced a newly discovered desire to travel, and set off around the globe. Thailand, Bali, Australia...before finally settling in the South of France. It was then that she revealed the truth about her actions back home, and both her brothers had squeezed her until her eyes watered.

She was home.

As soon as she set eyes on them, she knew she had made the right choice in letting Aaron go. Their home was small, simple and isolated, but her brother was happy. His eyes were sparkling, his soul was alive, and he had a reason to get up in the morning.

Soulmates.

As she sat at the table in a tiny cafe in rural France, Liv Flaherty watched the two people she adored more than any other bicker and banter over what to order. To the casual observer, they were a happy little trio, enjoying the warm rays of the summer sun. To the members of that trio, they were the world and everything in it. 

And in the end, after the fights and the fears and the tears and the doubts,  
The only thing that mattered  
Was love.


End file.
